Blood, Urine Tests Can Reveal Ultra-Processed Food Intake, Study

By Adebowale Bello. B.Tech Microbiology, Freelance Health Writer. Medically reviewed by the DLHA Team.

Blood and urine tests can reveal ultra-process food intake.

From sugary drinks to instant noodles, ultra-processed foods are everywhere because they are cheap, convenient and tasty. Several studied have shown that the more ultra-processed food you consume the higher is your likelihood of gaining weight and having high blood pressure or diabetes.

A recent study has now provided impartial scientific tools to enable healthcare professionals identify how much of these ultra-processed foods you're really eating, not by asking you but by testing your blood and urine. The benefits of this study are enormous.

About the Study

A team of researchers in the United States noticed that most people don’t accurately report what they eat and this is a common problem when making research on nutrition and dietary habits. Sometimes the act is intentional, other times it’s just hard to remember or measure and this becomes a bigger issue when studying how diet affects health.

In this study, the researchers aimed to find reliable biological markers in the body (I.e., clinical laboratory tests) that could reflect a person’s intake of ultra-processed food. They studied 718 adults between the ages of 50-74. These participants provided detailed records of what they ate and also gave blood and urine samples for 12 months.

Using advanced laboratory tools, the researchers checked for more than 1,000 chemical compounds (called metabolites) in these samples. These are substances that appear in our body after we eat, drink or are exposed to certain things.

To confirm their findings, the researchers also looked at data from another study where 20 people were fed carefully controlled diets, one high in ultra-processed foods and the other with none at all. These people switched diets halfway through, so each person served as their own comparison.

What the Study Found

The scientists discovered that certain combinations of metabolites in blood and urine clearly reflected the amount of ultra-processed food people ate. These combinations were called poly-metabolite scores.

They found 28 key metabolites/markers in the blood and 33 in urine that were consistently linked to the consumption of ultra-processed foods. These metabolites could tell whether someone had been eating mostly whole foods or a diet full of processed options, even if the person didn’t say so.

When they tested these scores on people in the feeding trial, the results were clear as those on the ultra-processed food diet had much higher poly-metabolite scores compared to when they ate whole foods based meals.

What This Means for Africans

This study is important to Africans for several reasons. First, ultra-processed foods are increasingly becoming a part of African diets, especially in cities. If you walk into any supermarket in Lagos, Accra, Nairobi, or Johannesburg, you’ll find shelves full of instant noodles, canned drinks, biscuits, sausages, delis and flavoured snacks which are often cheaper and more convenient than meals made from fresh produce.

Unfortunately, ultra-processed foods also contribute to rising cases of obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs), even among young people. Many Africans still assume that these health conditions are diseases of the wealthy or the West, but the reality is changing fast.

Having a scientific way to track how much ultra-processed food Africans are consuming can help improve local research and policymaking. This means African governments, public health experts and researchers can get clearer data on what people are really eating and how it’s affecting their health.

It also has potential for clinical use. In the future, doctors might be able to assess your diet just from a blood or urine test and guide you towards healthy choices accordingly. This could be especially helpful in settings where dieticians are few and nutrition education is limited.

Limitations of the Study

It’s important to mention that this study was conducted among older adults in the United States. Their diets and food environments are different from those in African countries. Hence, the biological markers or metabolites identified in the study may not directly apply to African populations without confirmatory research using local foods and real-life diets.

Practical Steps to Protect Your Health

Regardless of the limitations of the study, its findings should serve as reminder that health is anchored on everyday choices, especially what we eat. In many African homes, the shift from traditional and whole foods meals like yam, beans, rice, millet or vegetables to quick-fix processed foods is becoming common but convenience shouldn’t come at the cost of wellbeing.

Here are some simple, practical steps to help reduce ultra-processed foods in your diet:

• Cook more at home: Meals made with fresh or minimally processed ingredients like vegetables, grains, fish and legumes are better for your body.

• Shop wisely: Choose whole foods over packaged products. Visit local markets for fruits, vegetables and unprocessed staples.

• Read food labels: If the ingredients contain items you don’t recognise or can’t pronounce; it’s likely highly processed.

• Limit sugar-sweetened drinks: Replace fizzy or energy drinks with water, fresh fruit juices or homemade hibiscus flower drink (zobo) and kunu.

• Plan your meals: Having a food plan for the week helps reduce the temptation to rely on processed snacks or fast food.

Wrap Up

Ultra-processed foods are a growing threat to public health, not just in the West but also across Africa. A new research has provided a powerful tool to detect and understand their impact using science, not guesswork.

As we await more African studies in this space, one thing is clear, which is tthat what we eat today shapes our health tomorrow. Hence, a return to regular consumption of nourishing, whole foods based local meals protects our communities from the hidden dangers in our diets.

Source: Abar L, Steele EM, Lee SK, Kahle L, Moore SC, et al. (2025) Identification and validation of poly-metabolite scores for diets high in ultra-processed food: An observational study and post-hoc randomized controlled crossover-feeding trial. PLOS Medicine 22(5): e1004560. Available from here.

Related:

Ultra-Processed Foods Raises Early Death Risk

Eating High Ultra-processed Foods Linked With Earlier Deaths

Published: June 14, 2025

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